Results 8,041-8,060 of 15,009 for speaker:Eoin Ó Broin

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am no longer arguing. I want to tease it out. For example, one could be a concluded enforcement proceedings by a building control authority. If we know a developer has built 48 apartments and has not lodged a single certificate of compliance, even if there is not building control enforcement, it is clear that the developer has breached the law because we know for a fact he or she did not...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: Would there have to be a conviction under the building control regulations?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 37: In page 45, between lines 34 and 35, to insert the following: “(i) failure to comply with planning permissions.”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 38: In page 46, line 3, to delete “is satisfied” and substitute “can demonstrate”. The amendment relates to section 44, where the registrar can determine if a complaint is not made in good faith or if it is vexatious or frivolous. My concern is about the wording of the Bill as it stands, which is that "the Registrar is satisfied that" a...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: Again, I am open to being convinced on this. The Minister of State talks about the subsection and the complainant being given the reasons for the decision. Could he speak a bit more about the format he thinks that would take or what level of detail would be provided? On the one hand, it could have a restrictive interpretation, and it could just be a notice that the registrar is satisfied....

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: Will it be the function of the board in advance of complaints being made to set out guidance for the registrar to provide criteria against which, for example, a decision can be made on whether a complaint is frivolous, vexatious or not made in good faith, would be decided and evidenced, or is it at the discretion of the registrar what the evidence could or should be?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I get that. I appreciate what the Minister of State says. What I am asking is whether the registrar would be provided in advance with some guidance on what he or she should be looking for when making the inquiries. The reason I ask this is to protect the registrar because some of these decisions could end up in court. The Bill very clearly provides an opportunity for a court challenge to...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I have a final question on this. Most of section 44(1) is the grounds of the complaint against the registered construction industry professional. Is the issue of a complaint being made in good faith, frivolous or vexatious, against the complainant set out somewhere in section 44 because I do not see it?

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: In response to my last question, the Minister of State said the type of guidance or the areas it would make its inquiries are set out in section 44. Section 44(1) is the grounds of complaint. If I make a complaint and it does not fit within section 44(1) paragraphs (a) through to (h), for example, that is the ground upon which the registrar might say it does not fit into that section and...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: That is very clear. However, section 44(2)(b) and (c) do not stipulate that the complaint does not meet the grounds set out in section 44(1)(a) through to (h). They add additional grounds upon which a complaint can be rejected, that it is not made in good faith. How does one determine something is not made in good faith? I could make a complaint under section 44(1)(a), for example. Who...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I am happy to withdraw the amendment. I am not being obstructive.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: However, if the Minister of State could give some clarity, by way of a note to the committee either before Report Stage or the Bill going to the Seanad, on what is the natural or ordinary meaning of those terms from a legislative point of view, that would be helpful.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I reserve the right to reintroduce them on Report Stage.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 39: In page 46, line 4, to delete “is satisfied” and substitute “can demonstrate”.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: It is important to remember that if mediation fails in the Residential Tenancies Board process - obviously, it is a different process and I accept they are not completely analogous - it is at that point that information can be submitted. There is a way of improving the wording of section 44(4) that would permit additional information but would not require a fresh complaint. It may simply be...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 41: In page 46, lines 15 and 16, to delete “the complainant may, at his or her discretion, make a fresh complaint in respect of the matter the subject of the first-mentioned complaint” and substitute “the Registrar shall make a legally binding determination”. I am happy to withdraw the amendment and reserve the right to reintroduce it.

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I move amendment No. 42: In page 51, lines 34 and 35, to delete “not make any recommendation, or express any opinion, in the report” and substitute “make a recommendation”. I am a little perplexed by section 48(3) but, again, I am open to be persuaded that it should be this way. The relevant section states "the inspector shall not make any recommendation, or...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: To be clear, I am not proposing that the inspector makes the decision. My proposal is for a dual approach. The inspectors, based on all the information they have, make a recommendation but ultimately, for the very reasons the Minister of State has outlined, the board must then decide if that recommendation is appropriate or not. I fail to see why the Minister of State would not allow the...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: I have one more question to ask that may be dealt with somewhere in the Bill and I have not come across it. Consider the situation when the board is making the decision of what sanction to apply. The inspector comes along, having completed an investigation, and tells the board that he or she is of the view that improper conduct by the registered person has occurred. Where in the Bill is...

Select Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Regulation of Providers of Building Works Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Mar 2022)

Eoin Ó Broin: Section 49 sets out the range of sanctions. I am asking about the criteria against which the board would determine which of the sanctions is appropriate. I do not see that in section 49 but it could be that I am not reading it properly.